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Psts.
Figured this one would be a bit appropriate to post, by RR.
From Both Sides Now, The Role of The Aquarist in
Conservation
Now a days when you sit and talk about the movers and
shakers in the fisheries business you can bet the names
Axelrod or Quinn don't come up, nor do the names of any
other Aquarist. Aquarist you say, why would the name of an
Aquarist come up in any serious discussion of North American
Native fish ? Why not I say ? Did you know that much of the
information on species across the world has been acquired by
Aquarist not Scientist. In their quest to dive deeper and
deeper into their obsessive hobby Aquarist have combed every
continent and almost every genus in search of new specimens
for their tanks. Aquarist discover species, name them,
document their habits and publish their results. Go ahead
and check out your libraries Aquarium section. You will be
surprised. The knowledge base available is very impressive.
Aquarist do so many tasks that are fundamental to good
science and good resource management yet many fisheries
personnel ignore them. Aquarists concentrate almost
exclusively in non game species the greatest weakness of
most fisheries departments yet most "Serious" fisheries
staff have never even given a thought to the role of
Aquarists or Aquarium study in their work.
Inspite of what seems an obvious opportunity to partner
there exists within the fisheries community a bias against
aquarist. A sort of invisible wall that keeps US away from
THEM. Many Fisheries people consider Aquarist amusing,
ignorant folks who just don't know the first thing about
fisheries management. Aquarist seem content to spend
countless hours (and dollars) to set things up just so , all
the while making no real enviromental impact. However slowly
all across the continent the traditional separations are
eroding. All across America , serious Aquarist are involved
in the rearing and breeding of Native Fish. Sometimes in
secret, often times in public. Aquarist routinely keep and
breed Darters , Shiners and Sunfish. Collecting valuable
information on rearing and breeding species. More and more
Aquarist have become involved on the local level with
various Stream Teams and other conservation movements. They
have taken a proactive role in environmental preservation.
How do Aquarist do that you may wonder ? How can some guy
with a few fish tanks and a basement become environmentally
proactive ? How does he breed a species that State and
federal programs have failed at ? It's simple, Aquarist
observe things from a micro perspective spending hours
observing the most minute detail of fish behavior. While
those in Fisheries tend to look at things at a macro level
.This skill while useful for resource management, leaves
them lacking when it comes to domestic rearing and
propagation. A surprising amount of Aquarists are rearing,
and breeding fish from all over the world with great
success. Surprised ? If Aquarist can discover and rear
African Cichlids of all types why not do the same with our
Native species? There is so much to learn about the
intricacies of breeding and rearing of a great many of our
Native fishes . Aquarist could help fill in the gaps !
Up until this point the Aquarist has been an outsider
looking in. Many states have placed laws on the books making
collecting and keeping of North American Native Fishes
difficult . The American Fisheries Society and other
Organizations like the North American Native Fishes
Association (NANFA) should work together with states to make
collecting laws uniform and logical. A practical solution
might be a simple collectors license (or stamp) that allows
a creel limit without size limitations for example, the
possessor could collect via hook or net 6 sunfish all
species all sizes, 12 shiners or darters, and 6 roughfish.
To the surprise of most people , the great majority of fish
collectors are like stamp collectors . Collectors will go to
great lengths and expense to find the one or two things we
want. Ignoring the many other things available, a kind of
catch and release collector. I have yet to see any collector
do the wholesale over collecting we hear about and fear.
They are as rare as the Bass Fisherman who takes every size
and type of bass any way he can get them be it by hook or
dynamite.
I think it is past time that the serious Aquarist be
welcomed to the folds of the serious fisheries groups. We
have a dire and important job to do, we must not only
discover and document our fishes and their behaviors. We
also must deal with the increasing environmental and
financial pressure on our natural resources. The scheme of
things would radically change if a small percentage of the
millions of aquarist began spending their time and money
locally with groups and stream teams. Fisheries departments
and other groups should place the welcome mat out reaching
out via aquarium magazines and local aquarium groups . The
increased public awareness alone would be worth the effort.
Take a moment open the tent a little wider and let those
folks in they are waiting.
Robert Rice
2213 Prytania Circle
Navarre Florida 32566